APNew England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, right, talks with teammates on the bench in the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game against the New Orleans Saints in Foxborough, Mass., Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012.

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FOXBOROUGH
– Tom Brady stood on the Gillette Stadium sideline after the New England
Patriots' second series of the game and proceeded to give an earful to the rest
of the offense.

He
had seen enough. His first series of the game ended with him on his back
watching the New Orleans Saints scurry after a lose ball, and the second never
had a chance to get started.

The
outcome of the game -- a 7 -6 Patriots' victory -- did not matter by
that point. New England entered the game wanting to learn about its offensive
line, and by the time Brady finished playing all of his 19 snaps, the
35-year-old quarterback had all the data necessary to make an assessment.

The
offensive line is in need of work.

"There's
a lot of things that we can learn from tonight," coach Bill Belichick said.
"Obviously a lot of things we need to work on, but we'll keep plugging along
and hopefully we can build on tonight."

With
guards Logan Mankins (knee), Brian Waters (excused/did not report), and tackle
Sebastian Vollmer (back) out, the Patriots were forced to go to battle with a
patchwork line made up of (from left to right) Nate Solder, Donald Thomas, Dan
Koppen, Dan Connolly and Marcus Cannon.

The
first hint of trouble on the line came after the Saints were whistled for
encroachment while fielding a punt -- a play during which linebacker Dane
Fletcher suffered a torn ACL -- that gave the Patriots new life.

But
New England was unable to capitalize. Koppen and Brady had an awkward
center/quarterback exchange and left tackle Nate Solder was whistled for
holding. Two plays later, right tackle Marcus Cannon, who has been standing in
for Vollmer, allowed Saints defensive end Will Smith to sack Brady (4-for -7 ,
30 yards) and force a fumble.

New
England's next drive was submarined before it started after Cannon was whistled
for a procedure penalty and Solder was again caught holding.

"It's
just learn and move on," Solder said. "I think it's a building process, always
trying to get better, work better together and make plays."

Wide receiver Deion Branch, defensive linemen Ron Brace and
Jonathan Fanene were among the 20 players who did not dress for the game.

Branch, who is part of the highly contested battle at wide
receiver, has not participated in team drills since Aug. 1. Spikes returned to
practice on July 31 after missing the early portion of camp while recovering
from offseason knee surgery, but he apparently suffered a setback and has not
been on the field since Sunday.

As
poor as the offensive line appeared at times Thursday, rookies Chandler Jones and Dont'a
Hightower provided enough highlights on the defensive side of the ball to
offset any immediate feelings of dread.

Both
first-round selections during April's draft, Jones started at defensive end and
Hightower began the game at outside linebacker. He slid into the middle after
Fletcher's injury.

Jones
made an immediate impact and obvious impact. On the second play of the game he
chased Saints quarterback Drew Brees (1-for -4 , four yards) out of
the pocket and forced him to throw the ball away.

He
then singlehandedly killed New Orleans' third drive by drawing back-to-back
holding penalties on Saints left tackle Jermon Bushrod.

Jones
played most of the first half and finished with two tackles

Hightower's
impact was less obvious, but he showed a consistent ability to get to the ball
and was always around the action. He finished with four tackles.

"He's
like six inches taller than, so he's got the length in his arm. He's got all
the tools," defensive end Rob Ninkovich said of Jones. "For him, now, it's just
studying who he's going against and fine tuning."